Entice clients to pre-book?

[downtowndog]

Hello to all ! I am thinking of a way to entice my client to re-book more often by offering a pre-book next appointment within 4-6 weeks for a discount. Since I opened 2 yrs ago, maybe 3 clients pre-book their next appt before leaving. All the others say, "i will call you when we need next appointment". And they do, maybe 10 weeks one time, next time 8 weeks, etc. So, I have seen others on here say they offer discount if pre/re-booked within 4 weeks bath, 6-8 haircut, or so. How have you handled this?

[ice.princess]

I know of a shop who offers 10% off the next appointment if prebooked

[DoggyDogGrooming]

We just opened 3 months ago and so far we have about 10 regulars for prebooking....on our new client forms we have at the bottom highlighted "*Did you know you can save $5 if you prebook your next appointment today before you leave(to recieve discount, appointment must be within 5 weeks)." Also when a person picks up i usually walk out and say for instance "Do you bathe Fufu at home yourself" if they say yes or no either or i say "You might want to considered bringing him oir her in for a bath in between grooms so he or she doesn't get any matts and we can keep their coat nice and full, i would hate for fufu be matted. Plus you will recieve a $5 discount for prebooking" and we get quiet a few some we call for their appointment and they reschedule, some no show, some love saving a extra $5 in this economy.

[lexapurple]

We offer 10% discount for prebooking for 4-6 weeks. However we had a lot of issues with people hearing 6 weeks and calling the day they want their dog groomed and demandinga discount. You have to be very careful how you word it.

[neanea]

I don't discount for prebooking. I have a few every 2 week clients and a bunch of every 4 week clients. I'd lose a TON of money if I discounted and I surely would not want to discount to people who are likely going to come once or twice for the discount and then wander back off into LA LA land and not see them again for several months. IMHO, discounting does nothing but train people to EXPECT you to give them a "good price". Besides, what are you going to do when you have a huge base of clients and they STILL expect you to discount?

If you really want to get people prebooking, make it harder to get an appointment with you. If they call and say "this is ms so&so, can you do fluffy tomorrow?" Tell them you are very busy and can't do it then, but do have an opening the day after or whenever. Don't make it so easy for them to just call and expect you to drop all and do their dog. Give them the idea that you are BUSY and they NEED to pre-book if they want IN!

What I do, in regards to pricing, is charge MORE for dogs that go longer between grooms. Say if my price (HYPOTHETICAL) is $100 for an every 4 weeks Shih Tzu, then my price might be $150 for an every 8 week dog of the same breed or size/clip/etc. So set your prices based on the CONDITION of the dog and you'll get more people wanting to come in more frequently. These are the ones that are going to be your prebookers!

[Addiron]

Note to self...that is an awesome idea on offering a pre-booking discount!

[A1Mobile]

Hello to all ! I am thinking of a way to entice my client to re-book more often by offering a pre-book next appointment within 4-6 weeks for a discount. Since I opened 2 yrs ago, maybe 3 clients pre-book their next appt before leaving. All the others say, "i will call you when we need next appointment". And they do, maybe 10 weeks one time, next time 8 weeks, etc. So, I have seen others on here say they offer discount if pre/re-booked within 4 weeks bath, 6-8 haircut, or so. How have you handled this?

I think you have to work on "closing the deal". You have to convince people that it's in their best interest to schedule Fido's next appointment now..and not at your expense. It takes some practice so work on your sales pitch without giving away your income. Almost all of my clients prebook..and I'm no different than you or anyone else..shop or mobile..it doesn't matter..learn to sell your service alittle better.

[DogChic]

What I do, in regards to pricing, is charge MORE for dogs that go longer between grooms. Say if my price (HYPOTHETICAL) is $100 for an every 4 weeks Shih Tzu, then my price might be $150 for an every 8 week dog of the same breed or size/clip/etc. So set your prices based on the CONDITION of the dog and you'll get more people wanting to come in more frequently. These are the ones that are going to be your prebookers!

I need to be better about this - I also do not discount for prebooking - BUT I should charge MORE for those who go longer between appts.

I have some 2-4 weekers, some 5's, mostly 6's, but WAY TOO MANY 8 weekers. what can I do to get more 2-4 week clients?

[Debbiedogs]

No discount!!

Horrors, are we making so much money that we should do this?? I'm with the ones who charge MORE if the dog goes longer than the recommended time.

It goes like this: "Mr. Jones, would you like to pre-book Foofy's appointment? It will save you money, because we will hold the price on pre-booked appointments within the recommended time span for Foofy, but if her coat grows longer and we need to do a pre-clip, we will be charging $5 extra (or whatever) in 2010." <smile>

That's my new approach. I'll tell you how it works....

[winterroo]

No discounts here-I just offer to book out, and if they accept, great, if not, oh well. I also offer if they don't want to book out that I will call them in 5 weeks, or whatever to remind them that it is time for Fluffy to come in soon. I have a lot of 8 weekers too, but I figure that if that is works for them, it is what it is. If the dog is in decent shape (which they usually are), same price...8 weeks doesn't really bother me because they don't really take any longer to do and don't typically have to be preshaved-HOWEVER-I like the idea of charging xtra for having to preshave the dog! I might start incorporating that! I do have TONS of book outs, that is mainly what I do, but still have many that won't do it because of their ever changing schedule or whatever.

[azoci]

Something I did back in

1990, in a rural area where I was lucky to see dogs every 12 weeks...
was to offer a 4 week /or 30 day special. with a special price! Most of my then little dogs were $25. My special 4wk/30 day price was just $15 [for the average $25 groom]! WOW smokin' price for sure!

I had a lot of people jump on the band wagon, and I would let thenm slip just once for a good reason, but if they went longer then a day or two...it was back to FULL price! That only happened a few times, then never again!

With in 6 months I had 90% of my clients on the special program. So I was making $45 in 3 months instead of just $25. And wow! It took less time for each dog!

Well, today we all know the benifits to having clients pre-book. Sometime in an area where this is not an accepted idea, you may have to break down and make it worth the clients while! Just some thoughts and what I did years ago.

https://www.pamsbubblemobile.com

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

I don't discount for prebooking. I have a few every 2 week clients and a bunch of every 4 week clients. I'd lose a TON of money if I discounted and I surely would not want to discount to people who are likely going to come once or twice for the discount and then wander back off into LA LA land and not see them again for several months. IMHO, discounting does nothing but train people to EXPECT you to give them a "good price". Besides, what are you going to do when you have a huge base of clients and they STILL expect you to discount?

If you really want to get people prebooking, make it harder to get an appointment with you. If they call and say "this is ms so&so, can you do fluffy tomorrow?" Tell them you are very busy and can't do it then, but do have an opening the day after or whenever. Don't make it so easy for them to just call and expect you to drop all and do their dog. Give them the idea that you are BUSY and they NEED to pre-book if they want IN!

What I do, in regards to pricing, is charge MORE for dogs that go longer between grooms. Say if my price (HYPOTHETICAL) is $100 for an every 4 weeks Shih Tzu, then my price might be $150 for an every 8 week dog of the same breed or size/clip/etc. So set your prices based on the CONDITION of the dog and you'll get more people wanting to come in more frequently. These are the ones that are going to be your prebookers!

That is EXACTLY how I do it.

You get people to pre-book by the fact that you are booked up and they can't get in. You are not "desperate," and so as tempting is you might be to take them today, don't!

I am booked out 2-4 weeks all year long now, and they MUST pre-book or they have to wait. They learn the hard way. And I have ONE doodle that I groom and to them "coming in early" is at 10 weeks instead of 12-16! So they are charged more. 8 weeks or less is what I want, and that is $XX. Over that and the price increases.

Tammy in Utah

[Petekids]

The previous owner of our business didn't pre-book. She said most people wouldn't go for that. Well, little by little I encouraged people to pre-book. We do offer a discount when they complete so many grooms - it helped. Now we're booked out until February and we're up to 6 clients that have booked out an entire year.

[Yorkie_Gal]

I offer a small discount if they book for 5 weeks or less. Makes my job easier when they come in during that time frame. I book out at 2-3 weeks, and alot of people realize this and pre book, I also have people whom book out for the whole year. BUT..........I still have those clients that wait untill there dogs look and smell horrible before they book. I should start charging more for those people that wait FOREVER to book........

[keyray]

I don't discount. I do ask every client if they would like to schedule their next appointment. Once I started getting booked out and people couldn't call and get in within a couple weeks they learned they had to pre-book. So now 90% of my clientele prebook. The others know that if they wait to schedule they will have to wait to get in.